The Asido Campus Network, University of Ibadan which is the student arm of the Asido Foundation held a bake sale at the Alexander Brown Hall, UCH on Saturday, April 2nd, 2022 to mark World Autism Day.
The bake sale which was tagged “The Blue Bake Sale” was held to raise funds from selling cakes and pastries with proceeds to be used to purchase learning materials for children living with autism at selected places.
This, they did despite the ongoing ASUU strike which has led to the suspension of academic activities since February 14, 2022. The event which started a few minutes past 10 am and ended at a few minutes past 12pm had a lot of Brownites and Uites at the cakes, pastries, and zobo stalls buying goods while taking pictures with cards displaying facts about Autism.
The president of the network, Miss. Atere Semiloore spoke with UCJUI on the motivation behind the fundraiser. “It is much better to tell people to donate for a cause and sell items to them than just beg them for money,” she said.
The Directorate of Programmes, Miss. Ogunfolaji Oluwatimileyin whose idea it was for the network to have a bake sale for the commemoration of the world’s Autism Day, described it as a random idea that hit her.
“It was honestly just something that popped in my head when I was thinking about what ACN could do to mark Autism awareness day this year. The goal was to raise money that would be used to purchase materials that make learning easy for children living with autism as well as have an event that will raise more awareness and give better education on what ASD is”
Miss Oluwatimilehin added that they were able to achieve “an impressive turnout” for the programme through the use of awareness flyers, display of graphics, and countdown posters.
Proceeds from the fundraiser will be used to procure reading materials and learning materials for autistic children at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry ward at the University College Hospital.
This is in line with this year’s Autism Awareness theme “Inclusive education for all”. The patron of the club, Dr Jibril Abdulmalik, who is a psychiatrist and the CEO of Asido Foundation said the message is required to encourage people to take autistic kids to school so they can reach their full potential rather than keep them at home. “It’s an opportunity to create awareness about autism which is a developmental disorder and it is usually lifelong but what we do know now is that the diagnosis of autism is not a death sentence,” he said.
